Chapter Eighty-Eight: Withdrawal from the Competition

When an audience falls for a star, everything about him looks pleasing to the eye. Even if he were picking at his feet, they would still think he was insanely handsome.

At this moment, that was exactly how the viewers felt about Zhou Miao. Aside from his personality, the boy had no real flaws to speak of: young, rich, dazzlingly talented, and unlike the others in the entertainment world, he never ran around sowing chaos. A son should be like Zhou Sanshui.

In the scoring segment, countless viewers cast their precious votes. The number behind Zhou Miao surged upward, and with every point it climbed, Lin Zekai’s expression darkened by one shade.

In the end, Zhou Miao’s score in the third round settled at 340 points. It was lower than in the first two rounds, mainly because the lyrics of "Actor" were too sharp, and some viewers felt they went a bit too far. Even so, the score still firmly kept him ahead of Lin Zekai.

When Lin Zekai saw the result, he let out a bleak smile. He had prepared so much, only to lose in the end, and lose utterly.

He could no longer imagine what the post-show comments would be like. The sunny image he had carefully maintained for years had collapsed overnight.

Zhou Miao’s "Actor" was like a branding iron heated white-hot, searing the mark of a scheming boy deep into Lin Zekai’s face.

As some netizens had put it, Lin Zekai was about to become the first, and perhaps the only, star in entertainment history to be called an actor despite never having acted in his life.

Actor Lin Zekai. What a humiliating and ridiculous title.

His composure shattered completely. Without waiting for Qian Jin to come up and interview him, he stormed off with a dark face.

The show was still live. The viewers were all shocked at the sight of him leaving before the recording had even finished. That was basically a broadcast accident!

The director immediately developed a splitting headache and hurriedly sent someone after Lin Zekai, while also telling Qian Jin to find a way to smooth things over.

As soon as Lin Zekai returned to the lounge, his manager’s call came through.

"Are you insane? This is a live broadcast, and you didn’t know that?"

Of course Lin Zekai knew it was live. He also knew what a huge impact it would have to turn around and leave like that, but on that stage he truly could not stay another second.

"Shut up!" Lin Zekai exploded at once. The veins on his forehead bulged violently, and his expression was terrifying. Even the little assistant in the room did not dare make a sound, quietly switching off the lounge camera.

"Listen carefully! Issue a statement right now. I’m withdrawing from this damn show. As for the reason, figure it out yourself!"

"And remember this: from now on, do not question any decision I make. If you can’t do that, I’ll have someone else do it. Understand?"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. The manager could hardly believe such words had come from the normally gentle and courteous Lin Zekai. Fury rose in his heart, yet he did not dare retort.

At the company, a manager wielded enormous power, practically holding an artist’s fate in his hands. But when an artist rose to Lin Zekai’s level of popularity and status, replacing a manager was only a matter of a single sentence.

"I understand. I’ll handle it right away," the manager said through clenched teeth.

Very soon, the director of "Battle at the Imperial Peak" received a call from Lin Zekai’s manager. After hearing the reason, his face turned extremely ugly. Lin Zekai was actually withdrawing from the competition!

What was more, the manager stated that they would not pay a single cent in breach compensation, because the program had gravely damaged Lin Zekai’s reputation and caused serious harm to both him personally and the company.

The director could not decide the issue of compensation himself, so he could only let the platform wrangle with the company. What he needed to deal with now was the mess left behind by Lin Zekai’s withdrawal.

Lin Zekai was gone, but the show had to go on. Yet the audience’s attention was no longer on the heavyweight duel between An Qi and Huang Chengxi. Everyone was discussing Lin Zekai’s abrupt departure, and no one had expected him to actually withdraw from the competition.

Less than half an hour later, the official account of Azure Surge posted:

"We regret to inform everyone that due to the severe attacks and malicious slander suffered by Lin Zekai on Battle at the Imperial Peak, which caused him tremendous harm, he is no longer able to continue participating in the recording. After discussion with the production team, it has been decided that he will withdraw."

"What!"

The post caused a storm. Lin Zekai had actually been blasted out of the competition by Zhou Miao!

"He attacked you? How? By exposing my true face!"

"Tsk tsk. If you can’t take it, don’t play. Now you’re withdrawing? That’s so like you."

"Why not just switch careers and become an actor? Maybe you’ll get a second spring."

"Zhou Miao has definitely become the number-one villain of the entertainment world. From Huiyuan to Lin Zekai, that’s already the second top star he’s roasted into silence."

...

In the Rainbow office, Zuo Qiu burst out laughing the moment he saw the post. So satisfying. He even used the official Rainbow account to leave a like.

Zhou Miao, who had already finished recording, was resting in the nanny van when Yang Xiaoya, the entertainment world’s number-one surfer, woke him at the very first moment she saw the news.

"Brother Miao, Brother Miao, Lin Zekai withdrew from the competition!"

Zhou Miao opened his eyes groggily and took out his phone. He withdrew that quickly? He had only used thirty percent of his strength.

But once the withdrawal notice went out, Zhou Miao’s private messages on Weibo began flashing nonstop. Countless fans of Lin Zekai rushed over to bombard him, spewing all kinds of vile abuse.

Zhou Miao was not annoyed. What was there to get worked up about with fools?

Still, since he had already roasted Lin Zekai into withdrawal, it would not be proper not to say something. So he posted on Weibo as well, with only two words.

That all?

Few as the words were, the insult was devastating.

Even the netizens could barely bear to look. They started pleading for Lin Zekai in the comments.

"For my sake, let him off this once. He already knows he was wrong; he even withdrew on his own."

"Brother Miao, run! Lin Zekai is heading straight for Rainbow with a knife. Hurry and go abroad for a few days."

...

After adding one more layer of pressure to Lin Zekai and Azure Surge, Zhou Miao no longer paid the matter any mind. He understood well the danger of going too far. If he kept pressing Lin Zekai, the netizens would start accusing him of bullying with power and sympathizing with Lin Zekai instead. This was just right.

Zhou Miao stretched. Lin Zekai’s withdrawal had directly sent him through to the finals, and he did not even need to take part in the fourth round. Just in time, he could use this break to catch up on the lessons he had fallen behind on.

The finalist opponent was already basically decided. In the third round, Huang Chengxi defeated An Qi, and now he had the same three points as Zhou Miao, while An Qi had two.

Although the fourth round had not yet begun, An Qi was basically done for. In the first three rounds, her point gap with Huang Chengxi had grown too large. Even if she won the fourth round and the two ended up tied, she would still be eliminated when the total scores of all four rounds were calculated, unless Huang Chengxi performed abnormally badly and she performed far above her usual level.

There were still two weeks until the final. Zhou Miao had plenty of time to prepare. Since he had come this far, if he did not bring home a championship, it would truly be a waste of his efforts.